The Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, promulgated the Papal Bull, ‘Ex Primaevae Ecclesiae’ on 13th November 1952 during the reign of Pope Pius XII. The Archdiocese of Madras and the Diocese of Mylapore was amalgamated and established as the “Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore”. The Dioceses of Chingleput, Coimbatore, Ootacamund and Vellore are its suffragans as of date.

Origin of Diocese of Mylapore

The old Diocese of Mylapore was erected by Pope Paul V on 9th January 1606, by an agreement between the Holy Father and the King of Portugal. By virtue of this arrangement which was known as ‘Padroado’, the King of Portugal was vested with special powers to appoint Bishops and Priests in specified areas and to support them financially in their work of Evangelization. The padroado system and the arrangement suffered due to the civil disturbance and transfer of power in Portugal and was finally cancelled by the Holy Father in the year 1950 and the Diocese of Mylapore came under the jurisdiction of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide from 10th October 1950. The last padroado Bishop of Mylapore, His Excellency Dom MM Guerreiro was transferred on 2nd March 1951 to the See of Nampula in Mozambique in Portuguese East Africa. On Bishop Guerreiro’s transfer, his Vicar General, the Rt Rev Monsignor Francis Arthur Carvalho was appointed, by the Propaganda Fide Congregation, as Administrator Apostolic of the Diocese of Mylapore the post which he held until the creation of the Archdiocese of Madras – Mylapore.

Origin of Archdiocese of Madras

As regards to the Archdiocese of Madras, the Vicariate Apostolic of Madras was created on 14th July 1832 but the first Vicar Apostolic declined the appointment, due to which the Holy See nominated Rt Rev Dom Pedro de Alcantara O.C.D., the Vicar of Bombay, as the Interim of Madras by Brief: “Pastorale Officium” on 5th March 1833. On the 21st of April 1834 by Brief: “Ex debito Pastorali” the Holy See nominated Rt Rev Daniel O’Connor O.S. Aug. as Vicar Apostolic, and on his arrival in Madras in August 1835, Rt Rev Dom Pedro de Alcantara returned to Bombay. This Vicariate Apostolic was raised to an Archiepiscopal See on 1st September 1886 during the reign of Pope Leo XIII and from this year onwards the Archdiocese of Madras functioned under the jurisdiction of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide.

Creation of Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore

At 10 00 am on the 27th of November 1952, the Administrator Apostolic of Mylapore received an official communication from the Pro-Nuncio Apostolic of India that the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda Fide had by a decree dated 13th November 1952 dismembered the Diocese of Mylapore and the Archdiocese of Madras and constituted three distinct Ecclesiastical units as follows: From the dismembered parts of the Archdiocese of Madras, in the territory of the Civil Districts of North Arcot and Chittoor a new Diocese of Vellore was created. From the dismembered parts of the Diocese of Mylapore, in the former territory, a new Diocese of Thanjavur was created. From the remaining parts of the Archdiocese of Madras and the Diocese of Mylapore, in the city of Madras and district of Chingleput, a new Ecclesiastical unit called Archdiocese of Madras – Mylapore was formed. It was also decreed that the Church of St Thomas hitherto the Cathedral of the Bishop of Mylapore is to become the Cathedral of the new Archdiocese of Madras – Mylapore, with St Mary’s Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Madras as co-cathedral of the new Archdiocese. For the time being, His Grace the Archbishop of Madras – Mylapore would be the Administrator Apostolic of the two Dioceses of Vellore and Thanjavur.

Re-Organisation

The Papal Bull ‘Ex Primaevae Ecclesiae’, further decreed that, ‘the Diocese of Vellore be entrusted to the Salesian Congregation of Don Bosco, the Diocese of Thanjavur to be entrusted to the Diocesan Clergy, and the Priests working in the various Dioceses, on the day this Bull was issued will remain incardinated to that Diocese. The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Madras – Mylapore which already had 9 suffragans at that period was given two more suffragans – Vellore and Thanjavur. The Archdiocese therefore had a total of 11 suffragans till 9th September 1953 when, with the re-organization of the Ecclesiastical provinces in India, the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore was given two suffragans only – Coimbatore and Vellore. In November 1969 by a Decree from Rome, on the request of the respective ordinaries, some parishes, from the Archdiocese of Pondicherry were brought under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore. They are: Manambathy Kandigai, Sancta Maria Mission – Palliagaram, Thatchoor, Madurantagam, Acharapakkam, Malligapuram and Cheyyur. One more Parish named Alphonsapuram (K G Kandigai) belonging to the Diocese of Vellore was also annexed to the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore by the same Decree.

Archdiocese and its Prelates

The Archdiocese of Madras – Mylapore functions in the capital city of Chennai (Madras) in the State of Tamil Nadu. On 14th November 1952, Most Rev Dr Louis Mathias SDB was nominated as the first Archbishop of Madras – Mylapore. His Grace was solemnly enthroned on 29th November of the same year in the Santhome Cathedral Basilica which was officially made as Cathedral of the new Archdiocese, while St Mary’s Cathedral was made Co-Cathedral of the Archdiocese. This great Salesian administered the Archdiocese till his death in 1965, followed by Archbishop R Arulappa who retired in 1987, and Archbishop Casimir Gnanadickam S J was installed in 1987. After his sudden demise in 1993, Archbishop Arul Das James was installed in 1994. After his death in 2004, the Auxiliary Bishop, Dr Lawrence Pius was Administrator till 22nd May 2005 when the present Archbishop, Most Rev Dr A M Chinnappa SDB took charge of the Archdiocese.